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The Sewing Machine 349 of acquaintance with the ordinary needle had created a prejudice and an opposition to aught but hand- work, which refused to be overcome in a single day. Indeed, the majority of homes would have little or nothing to do with the invention for many years. It was industry, as represented by the factories, which forced the sewing machine into the household. Manufacturers of wearing apparel and other goods, for the production of which dependence had hitherto been reposed in the skill and dexterity of human fingers, recognised the many advantages accruing from mechanical sewing. By this means not only was the cost of manufacturing the articles reduced to a very low figure, but it was possible to increase the output of a factory to a degree never previously considered practicable, and that with a reduction, instead of an augmentation, in the number of the toilers. From this invention have sprung the immense and numerous workshops which specialise in the pro- duction of ready-made clothing for both sexes, as well as the cheap tailors and costumiers, which enable one to dress well and stylishly to-day at one-fourth of the money which our grandparents disbursed upon these necessities. While a certain element of doubt prevails as to the date when the sewing machine was first built, there is conclusive evidence to prove that it was essentially a British idea. The very first patents ever granted for a mechanical sewing device were extended to a London cabinet-maker, Thomas Saint by name, in 1790. But it is not definitely certain whether Saint ever built a machine according to his designs, although it is only logical to presume that he